Wednesday, March 5, 2014

News Headlines (464) 1 March - 5 March 2014

ONLINE TODAY

► 1 March 2014 : Your energy is meant to be shared today -- in fact, you are better off helping others than trying to take care of your own business. See if you can get a friend to admit they need your help. That emotional mood you were in yesterday hasn't gone anywhere just yet. You want to sit down with the person you love best and tell them all about it. So what's the problem? They'll be delighted, and you know it. If you're afraid of getting hurt, try to figure out where that's coming from. Chances are it's something from the past -- not the present -- that's convinced you revealing your feelings makes you emotionally vulnerable.

► 3 March 2014 : Try something new and exciting today -- your energy is pushing you to new heights. It's a good time for you to explore new territory or to find new ways to do what you love. It's easy!

► 5 March 2014 : Your hard work finally pays off -- and this may be just the first installment. It's a good day for you to relax a bit as you prepare for the next phase of your big plan. Get back to it soon, though! Every now and then, everything just falls into place with only the slimmest effort on your part. See what happens when you go with the flow today, rather than trying to force things to happen exactly the way you want them to. If you go for it immediately, you bypass all the pleasurable anticipation. Since victory is already pretty much a foregone conclusion, you should let it linger.

► "Life is a short day; but it is a working day. Activity may lead to evil, but inactivity cannot lead to good."— Hannah More

► "The end of all knowledge should be in virtuous action." — Philip Sydney

► LIVE SCIENCE 27 February 2014 : Dressed for Success? Harvard Researcher Says You May Doing It Wrong

■ SLATE 1 March 2014 : Crimea and Punishment - Vladimir Putin is miscalculating how easy it will be to control a Crimean mini-state.
■ WAPO 1 March 2014 : Russian forces seize Crimea; Ukraine’s interim president decries 'aggression'
■ N.Y. TIMES 1 March 2014 : Ukraine Finds Its Forces Are Ill Equipped to Take Crimea Back From Russia
■ REUTERS 1 March 2014 : Putin ready to invade Ukraine; Kiev warns of war
■ WAPO 27 February 2014 : To understand Crimea, take a look back at its complicated history
■ WAPO 1 March 2014 : Russian forces seize Crimea; Ukraine's interim president decries 'aggression'
■ BBC 3 March 2014 : Ukraine crisis: Russia tightens military grip on Crimea
■ RUSSIA TODAY 2 March 2014 : Ukrainian troops dispatched in Crimea switch to region's side – sources
■ TIME 2 March 2014 : A Tense Standoff in a Crimean Village
■ HINDUSTAN TIMES 3 March 2014 : Putin builds up armour near Crimea, Russian assets plummet
■ N.Y. TIMES 2 March 2014 : Ukrainian Government Rushes to Dampen Secessionist Sentiment
■ N.Y. TIMES 1 March 2014 : Amid More Signs of Russian Force in Crimea, Delight Mixes With Dismay
■ N.Y. TIMES 1 March 2014 : Ukraine Mobilizes Reserve Troops, Threatening War
■ TIME 28 February 2014 : Russia Ups the Ante in Crimea by Sending in the 'Night Wolves'
■ L.A. TIMES 2 March 2014 : Head of Ukraine's navy defects to pro-Russian Crimea
■ GUARDIAN 2 March 2014 : The crisis in Crimea could lead the world into a second cold war
■ RFERL 3 March 2014 : Fear Is In The Air Among Crimean Tatars
■ RFERL 3 March 2014 : Crimean Tatar Leader Tells People To Stay At Home, Avoid Confrontations
■ NEW REPUBLIC 2 March 2014 : The Crimean Tatars: A Primer - The peninsula's oldest residents are also the ones least keen on Russian rule. Here's why.
■ EURONEWS 25 February 2014 : Tension in Crimea as Ukraine acting president Turchynov warns of separatist danger
■ COMPLEX FOREIGN POLICY 3 March 2014 : The Complex - Ukraine's Military: Undermanned, Underfunded, and in Trouble

Summary of media coverage :
What is now happening in Ukraine is a form of war for influence between the EU and Russian / Eurasian Union to Ukraine. Both have strategic interests in Ukraine. For Russia, Ukraine is a former old brother, as a former member of the Soviet Union in addition to its position as a crucial buffer state of Russia.

Russian Federation under the command of Vladimir Putin aggressively rebuild its superpowers. One among them is to embrace the whole ex Soviet countries in new power dressing which called the Eurasian Union, the EU counter block.

Meanwhile, for the EU, both political and military, joining of Ukraine can help to stem and weaken Russian influence in continental Europe. In the economic sector, the EU wants to leverage the potential of Ukraine in restoring the economic crisis in the EU.

Under President Viktor Yanukovych (who is more inclined to Russia), Ukraine has chosen to join the arms of Russia, after Russia promised Ukraine with economic aid, cheap gas and so on. EU who do not want to be embarrassed by the Russian move quickly in any way to thwart the decision of Yanukovych. Not long after, there was a large scale demonstrations and unrest in Ukraine, especially the West and North (pro-EU). European Strike Back succeed. Yanukovych overthrown and government controlled by the faction backed by the West. Putin reacted quickly. It seemed, on the face of the West, he no longer wanted to appear to fail.

Half of the Russian military forces deployed along the borders of Ukraine: 150 thousand troops, 90 combat aircraft, 880 tanks, 80 warships and thousands of artilery. A fantastic show of force. President Putin is really serious.

Besides the military, Russia also launched a counterattack by supporting pro-Russian demonstrations in the region of Eastern Ukraine and the autonomous region of Crimea peninsula. Special to Crimea, Russian is very protective because there is Sevastopol which becomes the base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Russian forces moved quickly to occupy strategic locations in Crimea, such as airport and Ukraine Air Force Anti - missile bases.

Crimea peninsula is an autonomous region of Ukraine which is located on the north side of the Black Sea coast, inhabited by 2 million people, ethnic Russians accounted for 60 % of the total population, the remaining 25 % of ethnic Ukrainians and 12 % ethnic Crimean Tatars.

The leader of the Crimea and much of the population to provide support in Russia and potentially stands to be its own country, separated from the Ukraine. What happened in the Ukrainian - Russian border, the Crimean Peninsula, support in the Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine quite made temporary leader of Ukraine -- Oleksandr Turchynov -- finally asked Russia to stop this provocation. If this action was continued, then it would be considered as an aggression.

There is a potential Civil War between Western Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine. The next concern is, "Can the pro-Western Ukrainian declare war on Russia? Will the European Union or NATO intervene and help Ukraine politically and direct military?"

If the first option is done by Ukraine, it is certain: there will be a conventional war.

Ukraine's internal conditions after riot is not stable, very prone to win the war with Russia. Clash with Pro Russia Ukraine can split Ukraine, as experienced by Georgia.

If the EU / NATO directly come into play, then the head to head between the two great powers is inevitable. Cold War can turn into World War III.

EU which is slumped and highly dependent on Russian gas supplies can more quickly toward the brink of collapse, and Russia can disrupt its entire big plans.

Ukraine tempest is an asymmetric war, a war to overthrow a legitimate government. Can Asymmetric War in Ukraine be a Symmetrical War (Conventional)? Let's monitor it. But I am very sure, to deal with Russia, the EU and the U.S. certainly will not dare to act rashly by directly sending their military forces. ***(CZ-lacalifusa)

Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade in prison in Russia, offered Monday to travel to Ukraine to try to help resolve the spiralling conflict there. "I declare that I am ready to travel to any location in Ukraine at any time at the invitation of any responsible actor in order to help prevent bloodshed," Khodorkovsky said in a statement.

The 50-year-old, who currently lives at a Zurich hotel after he was pardoned and released from prison last December, said he believed "the presence of independent and internationally-known individuals in Ukraine at this time could help prevent the escalation of the conflict."

His comments came as the former Soviet state accused Russia of pouring more troops into Crimea -- a strategic Black Sea peninsula with a majority ethnic Russian population -- and as world leaders grappled with Europe's worst standoff since the Cold War.

Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, was jailed in 2003 for fraud and tax evasion in what his supporters say was Russian President Vladimir Putin's revenge against him for financing the political opposition and openly criticising the Russian leader.

"As a result of the incompetent actions of politicians, we find ourselves on the brink of being involved in a civil war in Ukraine," Khodorkovsky said. He also warned of "many tragedies, including for millions of Russian-Ukrainian families, and extremely grave consequences for our nation's domestic situation and international standing."

"I have family and friends who are Ukrainians. Just as it is for others, for me this is a family affair," he said.
***

I like your closing sentence, Mr. Pointy Nose. Family affair. So, it should be addressed by means of kinship,
right?

Ah, it's just the market act. They exploit the escalation of conditions in Ukraine. This condition is the same as the tension in Hormuz strait, but the volatility of crude oil prices in the international market is only going for a while.

Ahahaa ... humans often behave strangely. Once they were created to be human, then they were not grateful, but they made themselves just as the dolls of human creation. And they feel proud because they look like the dolls. Ahahaha...

► NEWS & POLITICS : Who Really Owns the United States of America? Published on Jan 24, 2014 by Stefan Molyneux

► EDUCATION : The Crimean War. The Crimean War (October 1853 - February 1856) was a conflict between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire. The war was part of a long-running contest between major European powers for influence over territories of the declining Ottoman Empire. It is sometimes considered to be one of the first "modern" wars as it "introduced technical changes which affected the future course of warfare", including the first tactical use of railways and the electric telegraph. The Crimean War was one of the first wars to be documented extensively in written reports and photographs: notably by William Russell (for The Times newspaper). News from war correspondents reaching Britain from the Crimea kept the public informed of the day-to-day realities of the battlefield for the first time. (This was originally a three-part series, but i've edited them all together to make a complete documentary) - Rick H. Published on Feb 20, 2013 by Rick H

► NEWS & POLITICS : Ukraine's European Integration and its security policy. Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed the IISS on 'Ukraine's European integration and its security policy' on Monday 02 April 2012. Membership of the EU remains a strategic priority for Ukraine, and the outline Association Agreement promises to create a new political and economic relationship. However, Ukraine's foreign policy is not focused solely on Europe, particularly in light of the fast-changing global geopolitical context. Published on Apr 3, 2012 by The IISS

► Kiev braces as Putin threatens Ukraine war - By Peter Graff and Alissa de Carbonnel
KIEV/BALACLAVA, Ukraine - The West faced its biggest confrontation with Russia since the Cold War and Ukraine marshaled its forces for defense after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the right to invade his neighbor. |Video

► Russia fortifies in Crimea - By Natalia Zinets and Alissa de Carbonnel
KIEV/BALACLAVA, Ukraine - Ukraine said Russia was building up armored vehicles on its side of a narrow stretch of water near Crimea. |Live Coverage

► Russia raises military clout with reforms after Georgian war. "There is a sense in the broader U.S. political discussion that Russia is still the basket case military of the Yeltsin era, but that is wrong," says Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official and now fellow at the Washington-based Centre for a New American Security. "(It) is not the Red Army of the 1970s but it has made considerable strides."
► Putin softens his rhetoric on Ukraine - By Vladimir Soldatkin and Alexei Anischuk
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defense of Russia's actions in Crimea and said he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort, easing market fears that East-West tension over the former Soviet republic could lead to war.

► Los Angeles City Council OKs e-cigarette ban
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to ban the use of electronic cigarettes, popularly known as "vaping," from restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other public spaces within the nation's second-largest city.

Russia does not invade the Ukraine, you know! Funny if Western nations ignore the aggression of fascist elements, neo-Nazi and extremist in Ukraine but then they accuse Russia invades the Crimean peninsula. I doubt the status of the group that can be called "The new leadership of Ukraine" in terms of legitimacy and law. The cause of the situation in Ukraine is the result of domestic developments initiated by the extremists. Whatever they say, we can see: Putin has not given a sign on his finger to exert Russian military forces in the Crimea, including Russian navy. Although the Russian parliament has agreed to deploy the armed forces in the Crimea, but the decision to use military force has not been taken. Putin is not Obama, you know! And I do not see any war in Vladimir Putin's eyes this year.

I do not understand fully what is perceived by Russia as this ridiculousness, but it seems this is not about a desire for flicking the ears of a naughty boy who consistently blocking all his mother's romantic date with her ​​lover, because he prefers another man to be his prospective father. And in this case -- for Russia -- another man to Ukraine is ye, European Union! Argh! This is very uncomfortable. Dahling, do you want to feel a bit like what is perceived by Russia, hm?

"Destroy all cigarette manufacturers in the world! Turn off the vicious business! They are making a lot of profit over human health collapse. Cigarette business is not a good business. Cigarettes businessmen are terrorists in the health world. By buying their products, they got your money, but they do not care at all if you die because of cigarettes. What is more damn other than their business, hm? They damage the health of the younger generation, because they know if the younger generation has been attenuated, then a nation's resilience will be easy to be destroyed." I heard my voice echoing in my dreams all the time.

■ "A baby goat's tail sweeps where it sleeps" - A Swahili proverb sent by Kusiima Bagoes Julius Atenyious in Wakiso, Uganda
■ "A flea can trouble a lion more than the lion can harm a flea" - A Kamba proverb sent by John Mbiti in Kenya
■ "If there are no cracks in the wall, the lizard won't be able to get in" - A Yoruba proverb sent by Bolaji in Nigeria and Oti Oteri in Chestermere, Canada

■ Ukraine to go nuclear? New govt rep threatens rearmament, US silent. In power for barely a week, representatives of the new Ukrainian government are already threatening to literally go nuclear if they don't get their way. A deputy from the Svoboda party warns that Kiev could go back on its own constitution, and restock its nuclear arsenals within 6 months.

■ Ukraine ultranationalist leader vows to hang new interior minister 'like a dog'. Some of those who helped the current Kiev government into power, are already vowing to turn against the new authorities. Radical militant leader Aleksadndr Muzychko is seen in the video reacting to the Interior Minister's pledge to investigate his recent actions. Muzyuchko is known for his anti-semitic and neo-nazi views, as well as for fighting against Russian troops in the Chechen campaign in the 1990s.

■ 'Radicals destabilizing Ukraine must be stopped' - Russia's UN envoy. The efforts of radical forces and the self-imposed government in Kiev to forcefully overthrow local authorities in the East are unacceptable and endanger the lives of Ukrainians and Russians, Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin told the Security Council.

■ FULL VIDEO : Putin speaks Ukraine, Yanukovich, Maidan, Crimea. Russia will not go to war with the people of Ukraine, but will use its troops to protect citizens, if radicals with clout in Kiev now try to use violence against Ukrainian civilians, particularly ethnic Russians, Putin told the media.

► UKRAINE : Bring on Russia's Invasion - By Simon Shuster
Pro-Russian citizens in Ukraine genuinely fear the new government is fascistic and will persecute them. To many, a full-scale Russian military invasion would feel like a liberation

► OP-ED : How our 1,000-year-old math curriculum cheats kids - More than equations and proofs, math is about concepts like Riemannian geometry, which enabled Einstein to realize that space is curved, and clock arithmetic, which forms the basis of modern cryptography.

CZ

"Thank you for your perception! I like your romantic side, even if I do not always comment and I'm glad that you're in my circle of friends."(Courtesies by: Wolfgang A. Gerhardt)

Wolfgang A.Gerhardt : May be you like this Sunday collage

Cisca Zarmansyah : Before today, there never was a person doing this to me. You create a simple matter to look special. This is a special thing for me.

Cisca Zarmansyah : Thank you. I love it. I love you, my friend. ♥

CieL- FreYa Ceastle : Hmm, he's so nice...

"I am me.
In all the world,
there is no one else exactly like me.
Everything that comes out of me
is authentically mine,
because I alone chose it --
I own everything about me:
my body,
my feelings,
my mouth,
my voice,
all my actions,
whether they be to others or myself.
I own my fantasies,
my dreams,
my hopes,
my fears.
I own my triumphs and successes,
all my failures and mistakes.
Because I own all of me,
I can become intimately acquainted with me.
By so doing,
I can love me
and be friendly with all my parts.
I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me,
and other aspects that I do not know
-- but as long as I am friendly
and loving to myself,
I can courageously and hopefully
look for solutions
to the puzzles and ways
to find out more about me.
However I look and sound,
whatever I say and do,
and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time
is authentically me.
If later some parts of how I looked,
sounded,
thought,
and felt
turn out to be unfitting,
I can discard that which is unfitting,
keep the rest,
and invent something new
for that which I discarded.
I can see,
hear,
feel,
think,
say, and do.
I have the tools to survive,
to be close to others,
to be productive,
and to make sense
and order out of the world of people
and things outside of me.
I own me,
and therefore,
I can engineer me.
I am me,
and I am okay."

VIRGINIA SATIR
(American Phychologist and Educator, 1916-1988)

About Me

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent. I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent. I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out. I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent. I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out." - Martin Niemöller